Counter



G. H. BEAMAN.

COUNTER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 1921.

1,436,469. Patented Nov. 21, 1922..

7, /C'Z INVENTOR.

. my( ATToRNEY.'

Patented Nov. 2l, 1922.

UN [TED STATES' PATENT OFFICE..

GEORGE H'. BEAMAN, 0F' LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

COUNTER.

Application led September 9, 1921;. Serialy No. 4&9,586.

ToV @ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit knownthat I, GEORGE H. BEAMnN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Counters,

provide a simple andv accurate counter whichk may be attached to machines of .the above character readily, without alteration of the machine, for the purpose of registering the operations thereof.

It will be understood in the consideration of the invention that duplicating devices to which, the counter is applicable consist essentially of a stationary platen and a reciprocable paper carriage having a plurality of rollers engagement withv the platen to press single sheets of a-per thereagainstl to receive 1inpressions trom a gelatin stencil. In the operation of such, devices the carriage is norinally positioned at the forward end of the platen andV a sheet, of paper, to which .the impression is to` bey at one end between the rollers. Thecarriage is then given a forwardinovement by means of a manually operated lever or other similar means. The frictional contact of the rollers wit-li the platen causes them to be rotated to` forward the sheet of paper out onto the platen to be pressed firmly against the stencil by the weight of the rollers and carriage.

The advance movement of this carriage is limited by a sto so while sufficient area of the paper is fe against the platen to receive the impression, an end of the paper still remains between the rollers. The retrograde movement of the carriage causes the rollers to be rotated in the reverse direction and as a result the paperv is gradually ejected from between the rollers. as' the carriage recedes to its norma-l position.

In. machines of this type, as generally constructed, in order to or acquire access to the platen, the carriage must be raised from contact therewith. For this purpose the carriage is pivotally mounted at one side of the machine in suchadapted to be brought into frictional transferred. is insertedV install new stencils.

manner that it may be swung upward, away froml the platen into a practically vertically disposed position.

It .is another object of the provide al counter for use on machines of the above type'having a movable. member operatively connected with the counting mechanism. and projecting outward into the path ofthe reciprocable carriage, so that each ret4 rograde movement thereof will actuate the counter. It will be understood, however, that the usual type of counter is not applicable tothe above types of machine without altering the structure, inasmuch as a i'elainvention to they reciprocable carriage would interfere with raising the carriage from operative position on. the platen.

In view of this it is a further object of the hereinafter describe an improved? form of counter, adapted for any of thev usual counter purposes, but particularly adapted to be employed on duplicating machines having a reciprocable paper carriage.

e counter comprises essentially, a casing having its outer face formedV with a dial and a rotating indicator for registering each complete, operation' of the carriage. lVit-hin the casing is provided a simple and positive actuating mechanism for moving thel hand successively around the dial. An oscillatable actuating member for imparting motion to the indicator is provided and is pivotally mount-edv within the casing, so that an end thereof oscillates in a short arc of travel. Adjacent the upper end of the actuating member an arcuate slot is provided in the casing and an end of the actuating member projects outward through the casing into the path of a paper carriage or any protruding part carried thereby.` The actuating member extends contiguous with the casing and both are disposed in a substantially vertical plane. The member however is formed of yieldable material such as spring metal, so

that the projecting end thereof may be forced into the casing without actuating the counter mechanism.

I have illustrated my invention by the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a portion of a duplicating machine, showing the counter in operative position thereon; and Fig. 2 is a composite view showing the counter partly in section, with parts broken away, in fixed position upon the duplicating machine. ln this view the paper carriage is shown as being partially raised toward inoperative position and out of contact with the platen.

More specifically, reference being had to the figures, 3 indicates a reciprocable paper carriage common to duplicating machines, which machines are of well known type and are not shown complete herein. The carriage comprises essentially, a rectangular frame 4 carrying a plurality of transverse rollers 5 for feeding sheets of paper (not shown) as above described. A frame 6 comprises part of the duplicating machine and serves as a support for the platen over which the rollers are adapted to be moved. A counter, 7, is fixed to the frame of the machine adjacent the end` of the frame 4, on which the rollers are mounted, and is disposed substantially parallel with the side of the carriage and parallel with the path of movement thereof. The counter is provided with a casing having a rectangular portion 8 and an arcuate portion 9 of slightly larger diameter. The casing is formed preferably of two members 10 and 11 stamped from light gauge sheet metal. Une member 10 is formed so as to include a side wall 12, and the other member 11, provides a further closure for the casing, and a dial 14 divided into a plurality of units as indicated by 15 is formed upon this member adjacent the arcuate portion of the casing. A rotatable transverse shaft 16, is provided withiny the casing and extends through the dial face thereof to carry an indicator hand 17 which is held fixed thereon by means of a knurled knob 18 internally threaded so as to be detachably secured tov the shaft.

A ratchet wheel 19 is provided for the pui'- pose of holding the indicator and is fixed to the transverse shaft, so that rotation thereof imparts a similar motion to the indicator. The ratchet wheel is provided with a plurality of spaced teeth 2O forming a plurality of notches 21 therebetween. The number of teeth carried by they ratchet is equivalent to the number of graduations upon the dial. As a. means for actuating the ratchet wheel to move the indicator, an actuating member 22 is provided having a vertically disposed portion 23 and a substantially horizontally disposed portion 24. This actuating member is formed similar to a bell crank and is pivotally secured to the casing by means of a screw 25 adjacent the lower wall of the casing. The portion 24 of the actuating member is provided with an end 25 bent at right angles thereto and carrying a yieldable pawl 26 secured thereto as at 27. The pawl is formed preferably of spring metal and is provided with an arcuate end 28 adapted to enter a notch between any of the several teeth upon the ratchet wheel. A portion 24 of the actuating member has its end disposed a short distance beyond the perimeter of the ratchet wheel but below the horizontal center line thereof, so that the pawl is subject to continual tension and tends to press against the margin of the notches. rlhe actuating member is held in normal position yieldably by means of a spring 30, looped around the screw and having an end 31 bearing against the end closure wall of the casing.

lt is apparent now that upward movement of the portion 24 of the actuating member will act to advance the ratchet wheel a fraction of a revolution. In order to vprevent reverse movement of the ratchet wheel a yieldable stop pawl 32 is provided fixed to the bottom closure wall of the casing by means of a screw 33 and having an end 34 normally pressing yieldably against the margin of the ratchet. rlhe ratchet Vwheel is provided with a hub portion 34 to which is fixed a lug 35 formed separately therefrom and secured thereto by means of a screw 36. 1n order that the operator may be aware of the fact that the ratchet wheel has completed a single revolution, indicating a given number of operations, a bell 37 is provided within the casing xed thereto by means of a screw 38 and a bell hammer 39 yieldably mounted upon the casing by means of a length of spring wire 40 is provided. An end 41 of this spring wire projects through the hammer and is disposed within the path of travel ofthe projecting lug 35 so that the movement of this lug past the hammer acts to raise it from the bell and subsequently allow it to be forceably returned by means of the spring wire to ring the bell.

The paper carriage, as is common to this type of machine.,- carries a U shaped roller releasing member 43, as shown particularly in Fig. 2.

l propose to mount the counter upon the frame of the machine in such manner that as the carriage is reciprocated the member 43 will move parallel to the back wall thereof and come in contact with the protruding end of the actuating element which projects through the slot in the casing. This end has its upper margin 44 of arcuate form so that when the carriage is lowered from the position shown in Fig. 2 into the position shown in Fig. 1 and indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the end of the member will act upon the arcuate surface of the actuating arm to press it into the casing to permit of the carriage being lowered into operative position Without interference therefrom.

In the operation of the machine and counter it is apparent that as the carriage is returned to normal position subsequent to each operation, the U member will act to move the end of the actuating arm through the arc of travel determined by the slot. This imparts an upward movement to the yieldable pawl and the ratchet wheel is advanced a distance equivalent to the space occupied by each tooth, causing the indicator arm to e moved from one unit to the next. Immediately upon the next forward movement of the carriage the actuating member will be released and by virtue of the tension of the spring will return to normal position causing the end of the pawl to be retracted from position in one notch and advanced into position in the adjacent notch. ,During this interval it is apparent that the ratchet Wheel is held against retrograde movement by virtue of the yieldable stop pawl. The lug provided on the hub of the ratchet Wheel is disposed in such position that the hammer will be raised from normal position just before the hand has completed a single revolution7 so that immediately upon the hand moving completely around to the zero point, the hammer will be released and by virtue of the spring upon which it is held will impart a blow to the bell to announce completion of the number of operations for Which the dial calibrated.

Whereas I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it is apparent that I may alter the construction` and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention Withinthe scope of the appended claims, and Whereas I have shown and described a counter as applied to a duplicating machine having a reciprocable paper carriage, it is apparent that it may be modified as occasion may require to be used on any type of machine for counting the operations thereof.

Vhat I claim is:

l. In combination with a duplicating machine having a reciprocable carriage, a counter, an actuating arm for said counter projecting therefrom, said arm adapted to be move( with each operation of said carriage, and further adapted to be retracted into the casing of the counter.

2. A counter including a casing, a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said casing, an actuating arm having an end protruding from said casing, a awl carried by said arm and yieldably hel in contact with said ratchet wheel, a stop paWl yieldably engaging said ratchet wheel, and an indicator carried by said wheel.

3. A counter including a casing, a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said casing, an actuating arm having an end protruding from said casing, a pawl carried by said arm and yieldably held in contact with said ratchet Wheel, a stop pawl yieldably engaging said ratchet wheel, and an indicator carried by said wheel, said actuating arm adapted to be retracted With said casing.

4. A counter including a casing, a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said casing, an actuating arm having an end protruding from said casing, a pawl carried by said arm and yieldably held in contact with said ratchet Wheel, a stop pawl yieldably engaging said ratchet wheel, and an indicator carried by said Wheel, said actuating arm adapted to be retracted with said casing and formed with an arcuate surface for the purpose described.

GEORGE H. BEAMAN. Witnesses S. H. PETERS, S. P. CHASE. 

